(A/N So.. I kinda finished this story. But the characters are being really annoying and won't leave me alone.
A few threads were left open and the characters were screaming for me to keep going, so suddenly I'm sat with a follow-up.
Enjoy!)
https://open.spotify.com/track/2Yes2THlMDusZfnyBo9B51
It was mid winter and we were in New York City. Almost two years had gone since our break through and we had finished recording our second album. The hectic scedule of promotion and touring was coming up.
We were in New York to film the video to our single "End of the world". The lyrics were deciedly dystopian and it had been written as the main feature song to a major Hollywood movie. We had finished filming our part of the video, which was to be intercut with footage from the movie.
We had even had a small cameo in the actual movie.
Mr.G had returned as director with a crazy expensive idea for a video that had us playing on top of waterfalls and high places around the world. I couldn't quite work out why he didn't do it with green-screen but he insisted on taping on location with helicopters and loads of travel.
We had been granted a rare privilege of standing on top of Ayers Rock, by the Victoria falls and the great wall of China.
Seeing all those places was absolutely a thrill.
For the past week we had been in New York spending a two day stint in January winds on top of a skyscraper, freezing our asses off and trying to look good while not falling off the edge of the building.
In addition we had been doing the whole chatshow circuit and dodging paparazzi.
Our relationship status was still listed as unofficial, but most of our fans were fully on board with the actual reality. Oddball and Evan even had their own little gay fan club with representatives turning up wherever we were. Suddenly being gay rock-fans was a trend. Evan had gone with us to Australia where he and Odd had been mobbed by fans. Poor Evan was completely thrown by the attention. Most of the time, at home he was able to go unnoticed. But with us he was a target for photographers and fans. So by the time we went to New York, he went home to complete his history degree.
Through hard work, both Selma and I had completed our degrees. I officially had a degree in design and she was a published author with a degree in journalism. It made me feel stronger to know that I had something that was mine. Oddball had abandoned his degree the moment we had our first hit, whereas Ethan was doing occasional exams towards a music teaching qualification. There was a half assed design degree with Simon's name on it too, but as I had done most of his work, it almost didn't count.
Ethan and I were still going strong, trying to make time for dates and us-time. I still had moments when I'd stop to look at him, just to feel those rivulets of fire and ice across my skin. How I'd ended up in the same bed as the most beautiful man on earth was still a mystery to me, but he was still there, still kissing me, still telling me I was his and still buying me little trinkets. The latest attempt at spoiling me was a bracelet of Australian opals.
Life was comfortable.
Selma was still our PA while trying to find time to write. She had a published first novel and we made every effort to include her in whatever we were doing. We constantly carried her book in public. Her publisher was only a small one which couldn't afford any support beyond actually publishing her book, so we added her promo to our schedule. I didn't mind spending days in bookshops anyway.
Our appearances had changed slightly too. Simon and Odd had both kept their long hair although Oddball wore his shoulder length and no longer dyed it. Simon's blond wavy hair had grown down to the small of his back and even had it's own twitter hashtag and a fanbase. Both of Simon's forearms were adorned with tattoed flames in bracelets that moved as he played his bass.
Ethan's hair had grown a bit longer and I loved the slight curls at his neck. His fringe still hung over his eyes and he'd kept the streaks in his hair but varied between green and blue.
To my intense surprise, Ethan had suddenly decided to get a tattoo as well. Up his right forearm, spiralled and wound a noteline with the notes of Beetoven's romance no.2 for violin with the g-clef at the wrist. It twisted around his arm and ended by his elbow, moving and shifting with his muscles.
And me? Well my ear piercing had become a series of five along the conch of my ear with a continous spiral of titanium running through all them. I had designed it myself. It had been nicknamed an "Izzy" and a lot of our fans were pierced in a similar way or wore clip on spirals similar to mine.
On my ancle I had the Obstruction logo tattooed.
We had the rare privilege of a whole day off and had decided to just go for a sightseeing trip.
It was New York after all. Ethan was wearing the grey beanie I'd knitted that first Christmas and he still looked so adorably cute wearing it. He had his arm around me and I actually didn't care if the paparazzi snapped us. I was just enjoying being with him and feeling like a normal person, walking around in a big city.
We were walking towards the Metropolitan museum of Art when Selma stopped at a window.
"That is the weirdest thing I've ever seen," she chuckled.
The shop was an ice cream parlour and the list of flavours was what had stopped Selma.
"Prawn flavoured ice cream?" Simon said with a disgusted wrinkle of his nose.
"Soy sauce?" She giggled.
"Uck," Simon exclaimed before he turned to look at Selma with a crooked smile.
She didn't see him look at her. She was still focused on the weird flavours. But I saw the mischievous glint in Simon's eyes before he strode into the shop.
A couple of minutes later he returned with two cardboard cups of ice cream, looking very clever.
"I thought we'd try some," he told Selma and held out one cup to her.
"What one is this?" She asked, looking at the weird murky brown colour of one scoop and the pinkish of the other.
"What you have there is one of soy sauce and one of bacon," Simon grinned.
"And that one?" She asked, pointing to the cup in Simon's hand.
"This is for washing that down," he said with a cheeky smile demonstratively holding his cup out of her reach.
Selma looked at his cup suspiciously.
"It's a rose petal one," he said softly.
Simon and Selma had been flirting on and off constantly for our two and a half years of travel. It was fairly obvious that there was a pretty solid attraction between them, but despite Simon's usual tendency to "try before you buy" he had never actually tried anything with her.
Not that she'd reject him. She was probably the more invested of the two.
There were constant little indications of their mutually growing attraction and Simon's grin as he stood there with potentially revolting food, was another hint.
The rest of us were stood a few feet away waiting for them. My nose was cold so I was trying to snuggle into Ethan's neck to warm it, but he kept squirming and pushing me off before he gave up and simply kissed the tip of my nose. I smiled gratefully at him before turning back to wait for Simon and Selma to finish whatever they were doing.
"He didn't get us any?" Oddball whispered in mock insult towards Simon.
I turned to look at the wide grin on his face.
"You seeing it too?" I asked.
Oddball nodded enthusiastically.
"Seeing what?" Ethan asked.
"Watch them," I replied.
Ethan's eyes returned to the two weirdos eating ice cream in the middle of winter. I herd a quiet 'Oh shit!' as he saw Simon's eyes fix on Selma's lips when she tasted the soy sauce ice cream.
"Uck! That is vile!" She giggled and scooped up an amount on the sppon holding it out for Simon to taste.
Their eyes locked as he let her spoon feed him and I could practically pinpoint the exact millisecond when Simon's world changed. He straightened his back and blinked repeatedly while studying Selma as if she had just appeared out of thin air.
"Told you it was disgusting," Selma laughed, interpreting his reaction as connected to the flavour.
With a slight shake of the head, Simon grinned back.
"How's the bacon one?" He asked, his voice breaking slightly.
Selma put some on the spoon and put it between her lips while looking at Simon through her bangs.
His toungue wet his top lip instinctively and I watched my best friend getting hit by cupid's arrow over a scoop of vile ice cream.
Selma picked up a taste of the bacon flavour and fed Simon, almost without him even noticing.
The unfamiliar taste kicked him into gear again and he suddenly looked at the rest of us with a cocky grin.
"This is the weirdest ice cream ever," he chuckled.
Selma's eyes were fixed on the cup in her hand but the twist of her lip wasn't because of the flavours.
"Okay. So that was kinda awful," Simon said with a secretive smile and swapped the cup in Selma's hand for the pale pink scoop he was holding.
He drew a deep breath and stepped away from her towards us, looking like it took all his willpower to walk from her.
"You've got to try this," he grinned in our general direction.
The smile was towards us but carried a weirdly exited edge. I looked directly at him and eventually he met my gaze. With an effort he flattened his smile to hide whatever was going through his head but I saw the fresh sparkle in his eyes. I let my eyes shift to Selma who wore a similar subtle smile.
Next to me Oddball laughed and took the savoury ice cream from Simon.
"This is revolting," he said after trying both.
Ethan sent the scoops a sceptical look before turning back to Simon with a smirk.
"You got your mind set on corrupting my sister, Simon?" Ethan asked with a pointed double meaning.
Simon's face went through a series of attempts at neutrality.
"Look. They have an artichoke flavour," I grinned at Ethan in an effort to get him to leave Simon to it. I figured it was about time he actually gave himself a chance. Simon had a confident shell solidly encasing his heart. I knew. He'd been protecting his emotions. Hiding his heart ever since I rejected him. And now Selma was cracking a hole in his armour.
"Wanna try it?" Ethan asked with a laugh.
"I'll pass. I've got all the artichokes I need," I replied and stretched up for a kiss. Ethan smiled into my kiss the way he always did before wrapping me into a tight hug.
"Should I be worried?" Ethan whispered into my ear.
I looked at Selma, who was still wearing a wry smile and over at Simon, who was back at eating the bacon flavour ice cream.
Because it was food.
And not to be wasted.
He did sneak a few looks towards Selma though and Oddball was bouncing on his toes, itching to say something.
I had seen Simon in a million situations and from the way his fingers were clenching and flexing, I could tell he felt completely out of his element. He had no idea what just happened. All he knew was that it was connected to Selma and that his heart was pounding.
"Nah. Let's see what happens," I told Ethan.
He looked at his sister and saw the same as I had.
Simon looked terrified and confused, Selma looked weirdly exited.
We exchanged a smile. Ethan knew his sister well enough to not interfere.
"Okay? We ready to keep walking?" Oddball asked signalling that he was feeling cold.
I nodded and dragged Ethan along to start walking. I linked arms with Oddball and Ethan to avoid leaving Oddball out. He smiled gratefully and leaned into me for a hug. Some things never changed.
The three of us walked ahead while Simon and Selma trailed behind sharing the rose petal flavoured ice cream, occasionally bumping into each other. Simon was still looking confused, as if he couldn't quite make his mind up on what to do next.
Once we were at the art museum we naturally spread across the galleries. I was sat studying the brush strokes of a Rembrant when Selma sat next to me.
She was quietly tense, fidgeting with the sleeves of her coat. With a smile I turned to look at her, registering the three rockers looking at another painting further along.
"So... that was pretty intense," I grinned, putting her moment with Simon into words.
She looked at me with a small smile.
"I think someone likes someone," I whispered.
She didn't reply, but the way she bit her lip with a smile told me what I wanted to know.
"You've liked him for a while, haven't you?" I asked casually and saw her nod slightly next to me.
"Is it that obvious?" She asked, looking terrified.
"Yep," I replied with a teasing smirk, recalling her mirth with Ellen when I had been forced to admit my infatuation with Ethan.
She shot a look across the room to a blond ponytail before turning back to me with a sigh. I lifted an eyebrow.
"Don't tell him!" She begged.
I chuckled recalling how I had asked her the exact same thing.
"I won't," I replied repeating her promise to me back then.
"Because it will make work a bit awkward," she said.
"How?" I asked wondering if she hadn't picked up Simon's signals at all.
"I'm your PA, Izzy. And he's a flirty rockstar," she whispered.
"He could change," I replied.
"Not for me. I'm just the boring PA slash Ethan's sister," she said quietly.
I studied her carefully and wondered how she could not see her own worth.
"You're not a boring anything. He should be flattered," I assured her.
"I don't want to flatter him. He's got hordes of fangirls for that," she replied with a smirk.
"And so far, he's been lapping it up. He just needs to know that someone likes the real him and not the famous image," I shrugged.
Simon spent the rest of the day away from Selma, looking like he was avoiding her at all costs. I could tell he was struggling. Simon's natural reaction would be to deny every skipped heartbeat and squash every butterfly because he didn't know what to do with it. I had to do something before he started breaking his own heart.
"What are you up to later?" I asked him as we browsed the gift shop. A paparazzi was outside snapping us as we looked at postcards and letterweights.
"Penelope has set me up on a date with some actress from the movie," he shrugged.
"And?" I asked trying on a cap with a print of Munch's Scream on it.
"And nothing. It's a networking thing and a paparazzi opportunity," he said evenly, picking the cap off my head.
We knew what to do to make the photographer happy.
"But you'd rather take someone who you actually like out on a real date?" I asked, pointing to a jigsaw puzzle.
"If there was someone I actually liked... yeah... but I don't so this is the next best thing," he said, not looking at me.
"See... I think you do like someone," I teased, giving up on the charade for the photos.
"No. I don't," Simon said with a badly hidden blush and a smile.
"But if you did...?" I pestered.
"But if I did... It would first of all be none of your business. And second, knowing my luck, she'd be way above me and I'd never have a chance," he replied sharply.
"Oh, come on! Who'd be above Simon's reach? You're not one to back out of a challenge," I teased.
"Decent girls don't want fuck ups like me," he shrugged.
"Idiot," I laughed and left him to it.
A couple of weeks passed. Simon was still in denial, but three of his band mates was seeing how his back straightened and his face changed as soon as Selma was in the room. Oddball found it hilarious and had behind Simon's back said it was just like seeing Ethan and me all over again.
Selma was unusually quiet too and the flirty tone between them was all gone and replaced by a deep, dark insecurity.
Whatever had emerged, had been brewing under the surface for months and now that both of them felt the full impact, it terrified both of them.
I was sat in my hotel room trying to write a new lyric.
Ethan had written a beautiful melody and Simon had come up with a really complex bass that somehow fit the slow melody within our grungy genre.
At that moment I had an hour to myself. Ethan had gone to the gym. Oddball was on the phone with Evan and Simon was proboably asleep.
Or eating.
I was about to give up on the whole lyric when there was a knock on the door and Selma entered.
She didn't say anything until she was sat down and had picked up the lyric.
Selma sighed heavily and lay the lyric to the side. She looked tired. Our schedule was busy and she was in charge of making sure we were ready for all and every appearance.
We were due on another talk show later.
Our music had become quite popular and radio stations were playing several of our songs daily.
Suddenly people knew who we were. TV shows were specifically asking for us and we had events every night if we wanted them.
Usually we went as a foursome, but they were usually namedropper parties and full of sharp elbows.
If we went as Obstruction, we usually backed each other up and stayed together, but it still felt all false.
Simon went to a lot of parties without us. He said it was all in the name of good publicity, but I suspected that through the last couple of years, the chance of flirting with various up and coming young actresses and models had it's appeal.
The gossip magasines loved his outgoing flirting tho and he had become a regular name on the rumor mill about various hook ups and budding relationships.
For the last week or so, I wished he had the decency to be true to his own heart. He was avoiding Selma with all his power and hurting both of them in the process.
"You ready for the interview?" Selma asked.
"Yeah. Had a shower, got the clothes," I replied waving towards a pantsuit on my hotel bed.
She nodded and lay her overstuffed filofax on the table, leafing through until February when our next tour was due to start.
"You have a lot of interviews coming up. A few charity appearances and other image building stuff," she said with a cold distance in her voice.
"I know," I replied wondering what the sudden tiredness came from.
"You okay, Selma," I asked and watched her tighten her face.
It was a look that I knew well. Ethan did the exact same thing when he was trying to do something uncomfortable.
"I'm okay," she said in a voice that told me she wasn't okay at all.
I reaced over and lay a hand on her arm.
She closed her eyes tightly. There was not much doubt about her feelings for Simon. She had confided in me but made me promise not to talk to Simon. But I saw how she was hurting.
"He wasn't back here until 6 this morning," she almost whispered.
"Did you wait up?" I asked.
Selma shook her head.
"I don't do that... but I am responsible for his safe return," she muttered.
"He was out with that Anna Heidel yesterday," I said referring to the actress starring in the movie we had connection with. In my opinion, she was more of a pretty face on screen than an actual actress. Simon had been on a few dates with her. Few enough for it to be casual, but enough to have their photos appear in gossip magasines.
"I know," Selma said and I heard an edge of regret and sadness in her voice.
"He's an idiot..." I said softly.
Selma slowly lifted her face to me.
"I don't know how much longer I can deal with it. It's killing my writing," she said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Izzy.. with things how they are... I can't go on this tour with you and pretend everything is okay. I am stupid enough to have fallen in love with... effectively my boss. It's unprofessional. And seeing him serial date and come back early mornings. It hurts," she said on a sob.
"Do you want me to talk some sense into him?" I asked.
She shook her head.
"I can't continue like this. I need you to accept my resignation and find another PA," she said with tears threatening to spill down her face. She pulled an envelope from her filofax and handed it to me. Without looking I knew it contained her resignation letter.
"I have to quit," she said sadly.
At the same time as she said it a tired looing Simon came in without knocking. He stopped abruptly and stared at Selma.
"You're quitting? Why?" He asked and I saw the panic on his face as he practically sprinted across the room and sat in a chair with his elbows on his knees staring at Selma as if he was seeing her for the first time.
"Because, Simon... She can't be sat up all night waiting for your safe return from god knows who's bed," I replied sharply.
"Bed? I didn't get to bed intil dawn! I was at one of those stupid parties and then I went to an all night jazz club!" Simon laughed.
I raised an eyebrow.
"It's true! Anna spotted some actor dude and ran away as soon as we were off the red carpet!" Simon said.
I shook my head in doubt.
"Look.. Selma is responsible for your safe return! You not returning is becoming a habit!" I replied.
"So go to sleep. I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself," Simon said softly looking at Selma.
"My job is to make sure you get back!" Selma said quietly before she left the room.
I gave Simon a pointed look.
"What did I do?" He asked staring at the closed door with a look of total bewilderment.
"You go on all these dates an don't see the people who actually do care about you," I said.
"The dates? They aren't even dates! Penny keeps setting them up. Most of the time I see the girl in a limo, enter the party and - whoosh - she's gone to look for someone more famous," Simon shrugged.
"But you stay out all night!" I replied.
"Nah... sometimes I stay out. Not like I have a reason to return is it?" Simon said quietly.
There was a sadness to his voice.
"That's just it, Simon! I think you do have a reason to return but you are too damned stubborn to admit it!" I chided.
He shook his head.
"Simon. I think you're trying to get away from your own heart. Don't be a fool," I said more softly.
He lifted his eyes to me before sending a long look towards the door.
"She'll never want a fuck up like me," Simon muttered darkly, admitting his feelings for the first time.
"Not as long as you keep playing around and randomly hooking up," I smirked.
Simon's eyes were full of resentment when he looked directly at me.
"I don't do that!" He stated.
"So no returning to the hotel early in the morning after dates with models?" I asked.
"Izzy!" He snapped.
"I'm not judging you, Simon. I'm just asking you to consider if it's what you actually want," I said softly.
"You wanna know something? I miss our days in the basement," Simon sighed.
"Why?" I asked.
"When things were simple," he muttered.
"As I remember, it wasn't all plain sailing," I grinned.
"I just wanna be boring old Simon Frye again. Not Obstruction-Simon," he huffed.
"You're still pretty boring," I taunted.
"Ha ha," he replied with dry sarcasm.
"Look. We're still a goofy set of people who got insanely lucky," I said.
"We keep each other grounded," he agreed.
"And with Selma, we have that element of home. It's up to you to make her stay," I said softly.
"I'll get in earlier," he nodded, completely missing the point.
"For fucks sakes, Simon. Just talk to her!" I chided.
"And say what?" He asked.
"Tell her the truth," I said.
Simon sighed heavily and rubbed his face with his hands.